The Internet of Things is posing an increasing information security risk to enterprises. For example, one large, global data center provider recently discovered that attackers had infected the power supplies it used to power rack-mounted equipment in its data centers, says Chris Richter of Level 3 Communications.

"They found out that their network was part of a very large botnet, and that came as a surprise to them, because they had thought they had pretty good security controls on their servers. It turns out that their power supply devices, all of which had IP addresses, were infected with malware, and their power supplies were being used as part of a large botnet that was engaged in numerous attacks," he says.

In an interview with Information Security Media Group at Infosecurity Europe, Richter discusses:

Techniques for spotting and mitigating data breaches more quickly;

Why risks from Internet of Things devices are increasing;

How to mitigate enterprise IoT risks;

Why more large and small organizations have been tapping managed security providers.

Richter is senior vice president, managed security services at Level 3 Communications, and is responsible for the company's global managed and professional security services line of business. With 30 years of experience in IT, Richter has held a number of leadership positions in managed security, IT consulting and sales with several technology product and services organizations. His most recent previous position was vice president, managed security services, at CenturyLink.